Disruption Investment

iContract limbers up as start-up.

UK & Europe

A new online platform has been launched to connect contractors with recruiters and employers. Built to take advantage of the growing freelance economy, the platform has now raised £300,000 via Seedrs. This, together with a crowdfunding campaign, has placed the business on a stsrt-up footing. Proceeds raised will go towards further product development of the platform with planned features and enhancements including; payment system, full text search, social universe, peer rating, enhancement of newly launched mobile app, and enhancement of the site’s data matching algorithm that will feed into the company’s A.I. research.

iContract is a platform built by contractors, for contractors. With its data matching capability, interactivity, and bespoke search tool – it allows contractors in the legal, finance and tech sectors to find contracts more suited and relevant to their skills, experience and personal requirements, plus help them manage their working lives as contractors more efficiently. In addition to accurate contract searches, the site also provides contractors with access to third party support for mortgages, accountancy and insurance, as well as an interactive community to engage with.

In an era of increased flexible working, iContract CEO and co-founder Amanda Cai saw a unique opportunity to create a platform that embraced this new way of working and give contractors more control over their work lives, and ultimately a better work/life balance.

A former full time City worker turned contractor, Amanda was frustrated by her experiences in contracting, with there being no go-to destination that contractors could turn to to find the latest contracts, and seek guidance and community support from; “I found the whole contractor experience lacking in any direction, not only was there no one all-encompassing place where you could go to find contracts, advice and community engagement – the whole contract hire experience was extremely flawed and ineffective – the amount of times I was approached by recruiters with contracts that had no relevance to my profile, or matched my expectations – it made me question if something could be done to solve this problem - and with that iContract was born. Through our job matching engine, contractors can connect with the right recruiters with contracts relevant to them, and vice-versa for recruiters.”

The landscape of work is changing. With the 9 to 5 slowly eradicating, more people are choosing their own way of working and are happier for it. This idea is echoed by 2016 work report from the McKinsey Global Institute - Independent Work: Choice, Necessity and The Gig Economy where it reports that “People who actively choose their working style reported greater satisfaction than those who felt forced by circumstance.” iContract’s Amanda wants to tap into this notion which is part of her vision for iContract – a platform that gives control back to the worker and rewards them with the satisfaction and happiness that can come with this way of working.

iContract is able to leverage these trends and play an important role in this work movement with its platform, and so presents an exciting opportunity to be involved in investment. Launched in August 2017, the company has so far has attracted over 4,000 contractors in finance, tech and legal registered, over 500 recruiter users registered, and has had over 1,000 live contracts posted to its platform.